Copper Mountain or Kansas City?

Neither city is a place to swim, and both are far from any coast. The difference is in what you'll find. Around Copper Mountain the reservoirs are fed by snowmelt and stay cold even in July, so swimming means a heated lodge pool or a hot tub. Around Kansas City, county parks on the edge of the metro area have sandy lake beaches where locals do swim through the hot summer.

At Copper Mountain food is fuel for skiers. You get burgers and chilli in the mid-mountain lodges, pizza, Mexican and pub food in the village, or you cook in your condo. For a more interesting dinner, people drive down to Frisco or Breckenridge.

Kansas City gives food a real place in the trip. Its own style of barbecue, with hickory smoke, sweet molasses sauce and burnt ends, is served everywhere from old counters near the stockyards to petrol-station joints, and comparing them is part of the fun. Steakhouses, the River Market's international counters and the Westside's Mexican kitchens add variety, though fine dining is thin.

Copper Mountain is a purpose-built village of condos and lodges at the base of the lifts, with no museums, landmarks or old buildings. The region's mining-era history is in the neighbouring towns, not here.

Kansas City has a proper list of sights. The Nelson-Atkins is a major art collection, particularly strong in Chinese art. The WWI Museum under the Liberty Memorial tower is the country's main museum of that war, and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum tell stories you won't find elsewhere. Add Union Station and the Spanish-style Country Club Plaza, and there are two or three full days of sightseeing.

Nightlife at Copper Mountain is après-ski. The bars at the base of the lifts fill with skiers still in their boots, and there is some music on the plaza on busy weekends. By late evening most people have gone back to their condos, worn out by the altitude, and outside the ski season the village is almost silent.

Kansas City offers a real choice of nights out, spread over separate districts. Power and Light is big bars and sports screens on game nights. Westport is the older, scruffier strip with a student crowd, and the Crossroads and River Market are for craft beer and cocktails. Clubbing is limited, weeknights are early, and you'll need a car or a ride between areas.

This is where the gap between the two is widest, and Copper Mountain leads by far. It is a large ski area below the Tenmile Range with open bowls high above the village, and several other big resorts within a short drive. In summer the same slopes are used for hiking and mountain biking, with the Colorado Trail crossing the resort and Mount Elbert within an hour.

Kansas City's surroundings are rolling prairie and farmland along the Missouri and Kansas rivers: pleasant, but flat. Swope Park, Loose Park's rose garden, the paved trails along the creeks and the reservoirs on the edge of town are good for a walk or a spot of fishing. For real hiking country you have to drive several hours to the Ozarks.

From Copper Mountain there are good outings within half an hour or so: Breckenridge's long Victorian main street, Leadville's weathered silver-boom district and Vail's Alpine-style village over the pass. Further towards Denver, Georgetown has its narrow-gauge railway, and Denver itself is roughly an hour and a half away when I-70 isn't jammed.

Kansas City's day trips are more modest. Truman's home and presidential library are in Independence. Lawrence is a university town with a good main street, Weston is a river town with antebellum houses, and St Joseph has the Pony Express museum. They make pleasant half days rather than highlights, and you can't really reach them without a car.

Both are easy places to bring children, but the trips look very different. Copper Mountain is about the slopes: ski school, a car-free village core, snow tubing, a mountain coaster and an indoor centre with trampolines and foam pits. The catch is the altitude of nearly 3,000m, which can mean headaches and poor sleep for the first few days, especially for small children.

Kansas City is a city of attractions. Worlds of Fun has roller coasters and a water park, the zoo is large, and Science City and Crown Center's aquarium and Legoland Discovery Centre are good on a rainy day. A relaxed baseball evening at Kauffman Stadium rounds things off. Expect a lot of driving between them.

Once you are at Copper Mountain, you hardly need a car. Walkways, lifts and a free shuttle link the villages, and free county buses run to Frisco and on to Breckenridge and Keystone. Getting there is the hard part: there is no train, Denver's airport is about two hours away, and I-70 can be slow in winter snow.

Kansas City is built around the car from start to finish. The streetcar along Main Street links the River Market, downtown, Union Station and Crown Center, so you can manage a day or two without driving if you stay on that line. Beyond it, buses are infrequent, the main attractions are far apart, and pavements soon run out.

Shopping at Copper Mountain is practical: ski and board rental, outdoor gear, sunglasses and resort-branded clothing. If you want more, it means a drive to the outlet mall at Silverthorne or the galleries along Breckenridge's main street.

Kansas City has proper places to browse. The Country Club Plaza is a 1920s outdoor district of tiled towers and courtyards with chain and upmarket stores. The Crossroads has independent galleries and vintage shops, and Westport and 39th Street have record shops and thrift stores. Barbecue sauce makes the obvious souvenir.

Copper Mountain is the more expensive of the two, above all in winter. Lift access, slope-side lodging, equipment rental and mountain meals add up quickly. Booking a condo with a kitchen, staying in Frisco or Silverthorne, or coming in summer all help a good deal.

Kansas City is cheaper, though it is still a normal American city rather than a bargain. Hotels cost less than on the coasts, the Nelson-Atkins is free to enter and a barbecue lunch goes a long way. The extra costs are a hired car, sales tax and tips on every bill, and tickets if you're taking a family to several attractions.

At Copper Mountain there is very little to go and see. Bands play on the plaza on summer concert weekends and acoustic sets turn up at après-ski. For classical music or theatre, you have to drive to Breckenridge.

Kansas City has music of its own. The swinging, blues-based jazz of Count Basie and Charlie Parker grew up here, and small clubs still hold jam sessions late into the night. For a more formal evening, the Kauffman Center is home to the symphony, opera and ballet, the Repertory Theatre stages serious drama, and the open-air Starlight Theatre puts on summer musicals.

Neither place has a spa culture, but Copper Mountain is the easier place to unwind. Many condos have outdoor hot tubs facing the slopes, the athletic club offers pools and massages, and the evenings are quiet with clean mountain air. The altitude, though, can spoil your sleep for the first night or two.

In Kansas City, wellness means hotel spas and day spas in the suburbs. The nearest thing to a bathing tradition is Excelsior Springs, an old mineral-water resort about forty minutes north. A slow morning among the roses in Loose Park is the city's own gentle alternative.